Chicago (2002)
2002
PG-13
113 Minutes
Action | Comedy | Crime | Drama | Music
Murderesses Velma Kelly and Roxie Hart find themselves on death row together and fight for the fame that will keep them from the gallows in 1920s Chicago.
User Review
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WHAT I LIKED: Not just because it's about a bunch of female convicts, but because they're all chasing the impossibility of public admiration more than they are their freedom, 'Chicago,' is a musical all about hollow dreams.
Its story mostly focuses on a woman called Roxie (Renee Zellweger) who murdered the man she was having an affair with. Once imprisoned, following the advice of her lawyer Billy Flynn (Richard Gere), she has to desperately act as a damsel in distress, a remorseful sinner, and even a pregnant angel, all to please the hearts of the headlines just long enough for her trial to be awarded and won. The contradictory roles she has to play to be admired and desired makes a great point about how impossible "pleasing the audience," really is, but it's sadly something that's practically baked into Roxie, especially considering her ultimate goal is to become a cabaret star.
We even get her dreams brought to life during many of the musical numbers, and there more than ever their hollowness becomes clear thanks to the fantastical lights and sarcastic, adoring audience sound effects. Then, when Roxie is finally acquitted, she's heartbroken to find that the journalists quickly move onto the next woman and her dreams of fame and fortune are dashed.
Zellweger does a great job of selling the desperation throughout all of that, and the two-dimensional production design and flashy, theatrical humour brings the central themes home perfectly.
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: It is a rather hollow and cynical affair, but that's entirely the point.
VERDICT: 'Chicago,' successfully translates the empty showbiz dream of pleasing the audience with its dazzling production and performances.0 member like this review.
